Darren Till Surging UFC welterweight, who demolish longtime veteran Donald Cerrone, handing “Cowboy” in the main event of October’s UFC Gdansk, won the bout via TKO in the first round
A fight with former title challenger Stephen ‘Wonderboy’ Thompson made the rounds, but the No. 1-ranked Karate wiz ultimately said it wasn’t in his best interest to fight a lower-ranked opponent.
But it would certainly give Till another sizable shot right up the ranks, something he told MMA Junkie wasn’t necessarily his goal.
“I don’t feel like I’ve earned a title shot and, to be totally honest, I don’t even feel like I’ve earned a top-three spot. The only reason why I asked for ‘Wonderboy’ is because I think it would decipher who the best striker is (in welterweight division). But I don’t really care if it’s No. 1 or No. 10.
“He’s an excellent fighter, one of the best, and I don’t want to fight him for an easy route to the title, but because I want to test myself against the best. If he’s the guy to beat me and take all my momentum, then fair play to him. But I don’t believe he could do it.”
Till doesn’t want to be resting on his laurels, nor does he want to take the easy road to the title race.
In case, Thompson is unwilling to face Till; the Darren already had another high-profile fight in his back pocket, this time a (PPV) bout against fellow rising challenger Rafael dos Anjos in Brazil.
Darren Till believes a fight with dos Anjos would be over in one single round, and that even UFC star Conor McGregor, who fights a weight class below the massive welterweight Till would have destroyed dos Anjos.
Till feels he is similar to megastar Mcgregor even a much better version of him.
A pay-per-view against dos Anjos in Brazil would be huge, and I am totally up for it,” Till said.
“The great thing is, I would go there and beat him in a round because he’s designed for me and is just too scrappy on the feet. I think Conor McGregor would have absolutely annihilated him, and I’m twice Conor’s size. I’m also a similar fighter to Conor – just much better. I would kill dos Anjos, and I just don’t know what he’s doing in this division.”
When Till talks about being a light heavyweight, he’s being absolutely serious; that’s the division he wants to end up in after rolling through welterweight and middleweight class.
“In all honesty, I am too big for the division,” he said. “You could see with Cerrone, and I know he’s a former lightweight, but I am huge at this weight. I’m going to spend some time taking over at welterweight, but then I will move up.
“People think I’m joking, but I’m also planning on going up to light heavyweight because I still have years to go and I’m going to continue to grow. I want to be a three-weight world champion.”
A former Muay Thai champion in Brazil, Till’s pressure, and style have attracted apparent comparisons to Conor McGregor, and Till not only agrees but embraces the comparison.
